Effect of Weaning on Intraepithelial Lymphocytes(IELs)and Goblet Cells(GCs) at Small Intestinal Mucosa in Piglets

In this experiment,12 litter piglets were allotted to four treatments which weaned at 17(Ⅰ)?21(Ⅱ)?28(Ⅲ)?35(Ⅳ) day old respectively to determine effect of weaning on intraepithelial lymphocytes(IELs)and goblet cells(GSs)at small intestinal mucosa in piglets.Each treatment was assigned three replicates(litters).Threestage feeding system was used in this experiment with diet Ⅰ for 7～28 day,diet Ⅱ for 29～42 day and diet Ⅲ for 42～56 day.54 piglets were killed to take intestinal samples from duodenum,proximal jejunum,distal jejunum,ileum at 12 h,4 d,4 d+1 w,4 d+2 w after weaning in group Ⅰ,at 12 h,1 w,2 w,3 w after weaning in group Ⅱ and Ⅲ,and all the same day as group Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ in group Ⅳ.The results showed that weaning day and day had significant effect on IELs and GCs at all positions of small intestinal mucosa in piglets(P005).IELs at all positions of small intestinal mucosa in group Ⅲ increased significantly compared to those in the other groups(P005),but IELs at all position of small intestinal mucosa in group Ⅱ decreased significantly compared to those in the other groups(P005).GCs of small intestinal mucosa increased significantly in earlyweaned younger piglets(P005).